Third-quarter observations from Packers-49ers

-The first play of the fourth quarter was a check down to Gore on third-and-goal from the 22. That was the first check down of the day for Colin Kaepernick. That’s why he’s the anti-Alex Smith.

-Nose tackle Ian Williams got knocked back in his two or three plays in the first half. It was the opposite in the third quarter, he was stout on consecutive run plays that netted 5 yards.

-In this game, the 49ers seemed to use the Packers’ aggression against them. Green Bay was hurt by comments last year that their defense was too soft. So their focus was on stopping the run, which left the pass open, and Kaepernick took advantage. Maybe that was behind Kaepernick’s post-game comment that if intimidation was their game plan, they better go to something else.

-Packers got their first run play of the game of over 3 yards with 6:07 remaining in the third quarter.

-On the opening drive of the quarter, Kaepernick completed four passes in five plays to Boldin for 70 yards. The drive went 85 yards counting Joe Staley’s false start penalty and ended with a 2-yard scoring pass to Vernon Davis.

-Kaepernick completed 6 of 9 passes in the quarter, but only misfired on one throw, when he threw low to Marlon Moore. One pass was dropped by rookie tight end Vance McDonald and a slant route to Boldin was well-defended by Sam Shields.

-The 49ers offensive rhythm picked up when they stayed with a pistol look with either one tight end and two backs, or two tight ends and one back. They also cut down on the motion before the snap. At his press conference Monday, Jim Harbaugh said there might have been too much volume in the play calls and that players were lining up wrong.